Summer Fun Ideas

I hope that you are having a wonderful start to summer. We've been spending a lot of time outside as we always do in the summer. I like to take activities that we normally do inside and bring them outside. It's fun to think of the backyard as an extension of our house and living in Michigan, summertime is the best time of the year to do that.

I want to get everyone to "think outside the box" and do a few things differently for a fun change. I will share a few things that I like to do with my kids.


Have art and craft time outside. Bring an easel outside along with paper, washable paint and paintbrushes. If you don't have an easel, attach a large piece of paper to a fence or even a tree.


Make chalk drawings on paper outside. Fill a small bucket with water so the children can make both dry chalk and wet chalk drawings. When they are finished, they can color the pavement with the wet and dry chalk.


Find a shady spot (maybe under a tree) and have story time outside.


Bring some lunch fixings outside and let your children prepare their own lunch outside and then eat on a blanket or at a picnic table.


Fill a child size pool with soapy water, give your children some sponges and let them wash several of their toys outside. When the toys are clean you can rinse off the soap residue with the hose and then let the toys dry in the sun. When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I even brought all of our classroom chairs outside and let the children scrub them clean. It was a lot of fun.

Have a outdoor pupppet show.


Weekly Challenge: Choose one of the activities that I listed or come up with an idea of your own and do it differently than you normally would. If the weather outside does not cooperate with your plans you could think outside the box and even do a typical outdoor activity indoors. My kids loved having indoor picnics in the winter. I would love to hear about your ideas.